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DIRECTOR OF LANDS VS REYES

FACTS:

In February 24, 1964, Alipio Alinsunurin filed with the CFI an application claiming ownership of a
land containing an area of 16.800, more or less, situated in municipality of Laur, province of Nueva Ecija.He
claims ownership in fee simple by inheritance from the late Maria Padilla, sought the registration of title
under Act 496, as amended.

Alinsunurin claimed that Melecio Padilla acquired the land by virtue of a possessory information title
issued during the Spanish regime on March 5, 1895, and upon his death in 1900, he transmitted the
ownership and possession thereof to his daughter and sole heir, Maria Padilla. The latter in turn continued
to cultivate the land thru tenants and utilized portions for pasture, until her death sometime in 1944.

On May 5, 1966, the petitioners opposed the application of Alinsunurin claiming that 1) he was
without sufficient title; 2) he was not in open, exclusive, continuous and notorious possession and
occupation of the land for at least thirty (30) years immediately preceding the filing of the application; and 3)
that approximately 13,957 hectares of said land consist of the military reservation of Fort Magsaysay
established under Proclamation No. 237.

On May 10, 1966, Alinsunurin filed for substitution of parties requesting that the Parañaque
Investment and Development Corporation be considered as the applicant in his place, which the lower
court granted.

During the application, the original tracing cloth plan of the land applied for which must be approved
by the Director of Lands was not submitted. Furthermore, the first blueprint copy of a plan of land as
surveyed for Maria Padilla was not formally offered in evidence. The second plan of the land, as surveyed
for Parañaque Investment and Development Corporation was submitted by the said applicant, but it lacks
the approval of the Director of Lands.

On November 19, 1966, the lower court rendered decision in favor of (a) Parañaque Investment and
Development Corporation and (b) Roman C. Tamayo, Filipino citizen, married, resident of Cullit, Lallo,
Cagayan, one-third (1/3) portion of the said property. On December 12, 1966, the oppositors Director of
Lands, Director of Forestry and the Armed Forces of the Philippines filed a Notice of Appeal from the said
decision to the Supreme Court.

ISSUE: Whether or not the plans presented by the applicants are sufficient to grant their application of
ownership of the land in dispute.

HELD:

The court held that the plans submitted by the applicants were not sufficient to grant their
application of ownership of the land. The submission of such plan is a statutory requirement of mandatory
character. Unless a plan and its technical description are duly approved by the Director of Lands, the same
are not of much value. the applicant is not relieved from the original tracing cloth plan approved by the
Director of Lands as required by law. One of the distinguishing marks of the Torrens System is the absolute
certainty of the identity of a registered land. Consequently the primary purpose of the aforesaid requirement
is to fix the exact or definite identity of the land as shown in the plan and technical descriptions. Hence, the
applicant is not relieved of his duty of submitting the original tracing cloth of the survey plan of the land duly
approved by the Director of Lands.

Disclaimer: This digest only focuses on Registration and Requirement procedure, which is kung saang lesson under
itong case na to sa syllabus. But marami pang diniscuss na issue dito like the filing of lis pendens. I recommend na
basahin yung full text.

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